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tv   CNN Saturday Morning  CNN  September 22, 2012 7:00am-9:00am PDT

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with this stimulus? are you, a saver, getting crushed? tell me on facebook or via twitter. let's keep the conversation going. coming up later, i'll be hosting "your money." if you're bettering on obama or romney, why not put some money on it? we're going to tell you which stocks to buy depending on who you think will win. see you at 1:00 p.m. eastern. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, this is "cnn saturday morning." new violence erupts in libya, but the message isn't hatred toward america, it's love. it's the tape that launched a thousand blogs and may have derailed a campaign. all morning, we'll look at mitt romney's comments on the 47%. an outrageous story of abused trust. how a nanny cam caught caretakers bullying.
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good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. it is 10:00 on the east coast. 7:00 a.m. on the west. we begin this hour in libya, where citizens speaking out in support of the u.s. and democracy have stormed the headquarters of several radical groups. hundreds marching to express their outrage at one organization has been linked to the attack on the u.s. consulate that left four americans dead. that group has denied any involvement. in a separate demonstration, at least four people have been killed and more than 70 injured in an attack on another militia. the protests come amid news that eight people including some extremists have been arrested in connection with the consulate attack. our correspondent is on the ground in benghazi. >> reporter: there was an initial sense of euphoria. people saying that this is the
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real libya, cleansed of extremists by its own people. but the situation quickly turned sinister. >> yeah, yeah, be careful. >> down the road there -- >> yeah, yeah. >> over here on the left-hand side. >> there is gunfire at a second location. this is the second location. just on the other side of this wall is the second location that we are told is being struck tonight. but contrary to what we witnessed at the first place, here, there seems to be something of a gun battle going on. we are hearing sporadic gunfire as well as other small explosions. the location is actually the headquarters of a battalion backed by the government.
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government officials came out on tv trying to urge for calm and tell people that this is not an extremist militia, but it seems few were listening. and this here is where the situation in libya gets incredibly murky. the compound that we're hearing the gunfire surrounding is battalion headquarters. her a part of the february 17th brigade that has been endorsed by the government. what the people here are telling us is that following the fervor that existed after the demonstrators initially managed to gain control over the headquarters, they're saying that people there, pro-gadhafi loyalists, moved to the crowd and managed to somehow manipulate the situation and get them to come and move towards this battalion's headquarters. they have been getting closer and close. it's still a very chaotic situation. exactly who is shooting at whom is unclear.
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there seems to be absolutely no command and control of the situation whatsoever. now to politics, and mitt romney's 2011 federal tax return that was released by his campaign late friday afternoon. here are the numbers. the romneys paid nearly $2 million in taxes off an income of nearly $14 million. that is a 14.1% rate. he paid 13.9% in 2010. the majority came from investments. here's what the obama campaign had to say afterwards, saying mitt romney took advantage of complex loopholes and tax shelters only available to those at the top. we'll talk more about the political impact of the tax return in just a few minutes. much of noise on the campaign trail has been over the republican presidential candidate's tax return. the romney-ryan campaign has rather quietly unveiled its plan to fix housing. under the plan, the government would sell some 200,000 foreclosed homes. it currently owns.
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those facing foreclosure would have easier act says to short sales. a romney presidency would overhaul fannie mae and freddie mac. romney's number two hit a bit of a speed bump during a speech yesterday. paul ryan was addressing the national aarp event in new orleans, and listen to what happened. >> the first step to a stronger medicare is to repeal obama care. because it represents the worst of both worlds. [ audience booing ] i had a feeling there would be mixed reaction, so let me get into it. >> the reaction didn't stop ryan from laying out his plan. remember, ryan appeared at the event shortly after obama spoke to the group via video conference. in his appearance, obama said the romney-ryan claims about obama care were just not true. ryan is back on the campaign trail this morning. he kicked off an event in miami last hour with jeb bush, and then it is on to orlando.
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florida senator marco rubio had a tough time getting back to washington last night. seems his american airlines flight was delayed, so he used some extra time to tweet about that. he wrote american air says maintenance problem. yet suddenly group of new passengers boarding, holding plane to get connecters on from delayed flight? and then this. delaying flight for maintenance to squeeze connecters from older flight. oldest trick in book. feel bad for crew. #cmonman. someone at the airlines apparently follows him on twitter and tweeted back afterward this. thanks for your patience, marco. we hope you have a great flight. and rubio, by the way, was headed back to washington to vote on a spending measure to fund the government through next march. the measure passed 62-30. it could have been worse, though, for marco rubio. he could have been on ann romney's plane. that charter flight was forced to make an emergency landing after an electrical issue caused
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the cockpit to fill with smoke. here's what it sounded like. >> we have an electrical issue here. we'll probably need assistance here. we've got smoke in the cabin and we're going to see the severeit of it and we'll let you know. >> the plane landed safely and no one was injured. there's a little less pain at the pump this weekend. the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded fell a little over a penny overnight to $3.82. it is the eighth consecutive drop. gotcha politics. mitt romney taped secretly during a fundraiser. will that tape hurt or maybe even help him in the long run? we'll take a closer look. but first, a question for all you political junkies watching this morning. who was the first president to ever appear on television? the very first one? we'll have the answer after the break.
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have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. lady liberty waking up with this morning there in the new york harbor. what a lovely shot. look at that water. can't get enough of that. good morning, new york. glad you're with us here on "cnn saturday morning." we've been talking about gotcha politics. hidden cameras, catching politicians off guard. here's what i'm talking about. mitt romney at a private fundraiser in may, what he said has now become big political news and has changed really the focus of his campaign. here's just a piece of it. >> 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them,
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who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. >> let me bring in cnn contributor maria cardona. also amy holmes. that tape was the talker all week, talking about who doesn't pay taxes. then the romney campaign hit us with his 2011 tax return and we started hearing more about his last 20 years of paying taxes as well. anything surprising there for you? >> well, it's not surprising that the romneys wanted to put out their tax return so that we could stop talking about the secret video, but i think that shows just what a bad week it was when now we're talking about the tax returns, which is not a great story for romney to begin with. in terms of tax returns, not really anything surprising. we knew that he pays taxes at a much lower rate than probably you and i and amy do and the majority of middle class families. what is interesting that i found in there is that he actually
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deducted less on his charitable contributions so that he paid more in taxes to equal what he had said earlier that he would pay in taxes. which then contradicts what he had said to a reporter basically saying that he has never paid more in taxes than what is legally owed. so i think there are a lot of contradictions there and it still underscores that he can take advantage of a lot of complicated, aggressive loopholes that are available only to very wealthy americans. >> so, amy, will this ie lens people like harry reid who has been saying that romney didn't pay taxes for ten straight years? >> you're asking me if this is going to silence his partisan critic in the united states senate who would like to keep control of the united states senate? i don't think so. >> will it even silence republicans? because some have said that no matter what romney releases, that this is not going to end. >> you know, i think that this whole tax release thing is
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basically a media invention, a partisan invention. he had released two years. now he's released three years. i don't think the public is interested. gallup yesterday released a poll that was really stunning, that the u.s. trust of the media is at an all-time low. 60% of americans have little to no trust in the media, particularly now that we're going into the election season, because the media -- we're chasing these silly stories like the tax returns or the hidden videos and we're not getting to the meat and the substance of the different candidates, of mitt romney and president obama, their policies, whether they're successful or not, and what that means for the future of this country. we're focusing on the wrong things. >> all right, well, let's get back to that hidden video. we're going to talk about policy, too. we do plenty of that here, but you can't ignore what happened this week. that hidden video, fair game or should it be off-limits do you think? the 47% video that we're talking
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about. >> it's absolutely fair game, because what it does is it showed a candidate in such a can did situation, and this is why it has been so devastating to the campaign, because it showed him in a position where he frankly was not guarded whatsoever. and he talked about the 47% of those who either supported president obama -- and he conflated these two things. or those two didn't pay any taxes. but essentially, he was denigrating and talked with disdain about almost half of the country. i think what that shows is it underscored what a lot of americans have already felt about mitt romney, and that's the fact that he is completely out of touch, so does not understand what middle class families go through, what joe schmo american goes through every single day to struggle to
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make ends meet. and this is not somebody who is ever going to fight for that person. that he's essentially going to fight for the ones that make as much money as he does. >> amy what do you think? >> i think it's totally fair game to record what the candidates are saying out there, whether it's to their funders or on the campaign trail. and, in fact, i read one blogger who made the suggestion that campaigns should actually probably tape themselves so they know if these tapes are accurate, if they're in context, if they can be authenticated. i think the media had every right to air this video. but once again, it became the story of the week when you have chaos unfolding in the middle east, which basically -- for me, anyway, suggests that the president's middle east outreach was basically a complete failure, his policies have been a bust. we're not talking about that. we're talking about this video. i was talking in the green room with rich, a longtime republican strategist, who said actually the republic's response was 23%
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said it would make them more likely to vote for him and 40% said they don't care. so if you ask me about this video a week from now, most of the public won't even remember it and they don't regard themselves in this class of moochers or whatever it is that maria and others are trying to portray it. they say you know what? we do have an entitlement society and we need to do something about it because we are going over a fiscal cliff. the deficit is out of control. we need to take responsibility and have grown-ups who are willing to make hard choices. >> so very quickly -- >> and, of course, amy didn't mention the 36% of americans who said that this tape made them less likely to vote for romney. >> so very quickly, as we head into the three presidential debates coming back, getting back to policy here, would the damage that this tape has caused the romney campaign -- what does he need to be saying? >> obviously he needs to talk about the economy, creating jobs. he needs to talk about the deficit, which is of huge concern to so many american voters. i think foreign policy is very
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squarely on the table at this point. and of course, obama care, which remains unpopular, and mitt romney's response to that. mitt romney did have his own romney care in massachusetts. he's going to have to figure out how to have that conversation. >> maria, very quick final record. >> absolutely, he needs to give some specifics, which he hasn't done, which is why the video was so devastating because it filled in a lot of the things that he hasn't said in his own words. and they were not something that was very positive about his policies. >> maria cardona, amy holmes, i look forward to talking politics with you next weekend as well. thank you. syria and iran present two of the biggest candidates to the u.s. what would they do if the red line is crossed? we'll break it down. wow... [ female announcer ] sometimes, all you need is the smooth, creamy taste
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with iran and syria, there's much talk about where the red line is drawn and what happens if it is crossed. barbara star tells us that's where president obama and mitt romney have their differences. >> reporter: president barack obama and mitt romney agree on two crucial national security issues. iran will not be allowed to go nuclear, and syria will not use its chemical weapons. but if it looks like either might happen, they differ on what could trigger sending u.s. troops into action.
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on syria -- >> we have been very clear to the assad regime, but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start saying a whole bunch of chemical weapons being around or utilized. that would change my equation. >> reporter: the white house won't say what it would do if the red line were crossed. seizing dozens of chemical weapons sites would be tough, requiring tens of thousands of troops on the ground. romney has openly called for covert action. >> i would instead of watching what's happening in syria, from a dispassionate distance, i would be leading in syria by encouraging our friends there like the turks and the saudis to provide weapons to the insurgents in syria. >> reporter: but he too hasn't said how or when he would use u.s. troops. the bottom line, president
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obama's red line, moving or using chemical weapons. governor romney advocates greater u.s. involvement now. on iran, the candidates agree. iran cannot be allowed a nuclear weapon. >> we are determined to prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: romney has a different take. >> clearly, we all hope that diplomatic and economic pressures put on iran will dissuade them from becoming a nuclear capability nation. >> reporter: the bottom line on iran, president obama says the regime would have to take direct steps to acquire a nuclear weapon. for governor romney, the red line merely having a nuclear capability without actually moving ahead to produce a weapon. but in the case of iran, many believe the red line already has slipped. >> we said that any enrichment was unacceptable in the case of iran, and yet here they are with hundreds of kilograms, if not thousands, of material.
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>> reporter: neither candidate is advocating war with syria or iran. both of them, in fact, have expressed hope that the sanctions will work. but if the red lines get crossed, both of those countries pose serious national security challenges to the united states. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. trouble brewing for president obama. a newspaper article says the president may be surprised on election day because of one voting block. but our roland martin has a thing or two to say about that one. you're watching "cnn saturday morning."
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welcome back. it is the first day of fall, and to mark the occasion, we've got a challenge for you. go outside, i'm sure it's a beautiful day out, use your smart phone to take a picture, then up load it to cnn ireport. perhaps you were one of the lucky few to get an iphone 5. the only requirement that the photo be horizontal and unfiltered. check back to see if yours is chosen. on thursday, we announced our top ten cnn heroes of the year. each of those heroes will receive a prize of $50,000. so now it is your turn. you will decide the cnn hero of the year, and the winner will
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receive another $250,000. anderson cooper tells you how to vote. >> now that we've announced the top ten cnn heroes of 2012, i want to show you how you vote for the cnn hero of the year. it's very easy. this is the main page of cnnheroes.com. down here, you'll see all top ten cnn heroes. each one will receive $50,000, plus a shot at becoming cnn hero of the year. that's where you come in. here's how you can vote for your favorite cnn hero. as an example, i'm going to randomly click on rasi here. you can read her story about providing free education to girls in rural afghanistan. once you're ready to pick the person who inspires you the most, click vote, which is in red right over here. a new page then comes up. it sws you all top ten cnn heroes. you choose the person you want the vote for. i'm going to say as an example
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leo mccarthy. his photo will show up under your selection. just enter your e-mail over here in step two. you enter the security code and you click on the red box right down here that says vote. you can vote up to ten times every day with your e-mail address and through facebook and rally your friends by sharing your choice on facebook over here or on twitter. and remember, you can vote from your computer or your phone, your tablet, pretty much any mobile device with a browser. just go to cnnheroes.com. we'll reveal your 2012 hero of the year during "cnn heroes: alan star tribute." an enthusiasm gap among african-american voters. don't believe everything you read. does that mean obama can count on record support? that may be another story.
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welcome back, everyone. i'm randi kaye. to politics now, and the close presidential race. let's focus for a moment on race in this race. here is the headline from an associated press story printed in the "new york daily news" and some other newspapers. some black clergies say there is no good presidential choice between a mormon candidate and one who supports gay marriage. and it's that headline that caught the attention of our roland martin. good morning. thanks for joining us. you wrote this op ed based on that ap story. what is your issue with it? obviously you don't like the headline. >> the short headline that ran was "black pastors tell congregations not to vote." when i saw that story, i saw it on a conservative website, news max, i saw hot air, i saw several other newspapers that i said what? i began to read the story and i realized in reading the story
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that a single pastor quoted said anything like that. i said i don't understand what the deal was. i called some people i know at associated press and i said hey, send me the original headline. that wasn't the original headline. the original headline said african-american christians waiver over vote. i said wait a minute, where is the proof even of that? sure you have several pastors who might say because president obama came out supporting same-sex marriage, because mitt romney is a mormon, they may have some issues, but to make this sort of broad statement that you have black christians who are waivering because of these two issues, that to me was just nonsense. >> or telling their congregation to stay home. but according to this story, you brought this up, this all centers on the gay marriage issue. here's a quote from one of the pastors in this story. it reads when president obama made the public statement on gay marriage, i think it put a question in our mind as to what direction he's taking the nation. i mean, roland, could this one
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issue really keep african-americans away from the polls on election day? >> no, no. no, it's not. bottom line is when you look at the polling data -- i mean, look, did this issue cause some serious discussion within the black community? yes. were there people who were upset? yes. there have been pastors who have said they are not going to vote for the president because of this, yes. but also, there are pastors who also say they cannot vote for mitt romney because he's a mormon. a southern baptist convention has long taught that mormonism is a cult. and so i'm sitting here going okay, i got you, but in order to lay out like it's a trend, you need to at least have some data. at least have something to back it up. show me a survey, a study, a poll that says 30, 40, 50% of black christians are considering not voting or not voting for the president because of same-sex marriage. the article said nothing like that. and the problem for me is this here. that people have written editorials -- they've been blasting pastors on social media
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for a story that simply did not support the thesis. and that's the bigs problem when you have people going who are these pastors? let's call them out. i'm going if you read the story, it doesn't back up the headline. >> yeah, sexy headline, but that's certainly not enough. i'm glad you brought up polls because we actually have a poll from nbc news "wall street journal" from early august, and if you look at the president's support, he better hope that african-americans are out to vote come election day. the african-american registered voters choice for president, we have as 94% for obama, 0% for mitt romney. another claim is that the president's support for gay marriage has dampened the enthusiasm for african-american voters is. that true? any drop in enthusiasm? >> first of all, the issue of enthusiasm is across the board in terms of democratic voters and african-americans overwhelmingly vote democrat. that has been the issue.
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democrats understand that. republicans even understand that. and have i heard that from some quarters? yes. but i have heard far more people say look, i look at a candidate in the totality, not simply this one issue. they're looking at health care, education, jobs, you name it. but also here's what's interesting. i remember a number of conservative white evangelicals who said "i cannot support mitt romney because he's a mormon" and turned right around after the primary and said okay, i'm backing mitt romney because there's no way i can back president obama. the point is there are going to be some people in america who are black, white, hispanic, asian, native american, does not matter, who say i am going to vote based upon my faith. that's the reality. but are you going to see a significant number of folks vote that way, i don't think so. i think people still are going to vote based on the issues they care about and not solely based upon their issue when it comes to faith.
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>> we certainly appreciate you setting the record straight. thank you. nice to see you. >> i appreciate it. thanks a bunch. what would military action in iran look like if the u.s. or israel decided to strike? launching missiles, land occupation, and how would iran hit back? i'll ask a top international security analyst from m.i.t. flo: every driver is different. we've got great news for them all. you can try snapshot from progressive before you switch your insurance. [ horn honks ] just plug snapshot into your car,
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good morning, atlanta. a few rays of sunshine there poking through on this first day of fall. glad you're with us watching "cnn saturday morning."
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military action in iran. some are beating the drum of war. others warn it could have a global consequence for the united states. but israel feels a sense of urgency to do something. negotiations aimed at curbing iran's nuclear ambitions have failed. last week on cnn, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu warned that the u.s. must establish a clear red line that iran cannot cross with its nuclear program if it wants to avoid war. >> it's important to place a red line before iran, and i think that actually reduces the chance of military conflict, because if they know there is a point, a stage in the enrichment or other nuclear activities that they cannot cross because they'll face consequences, i think they'll actually not cross it. >> but president obama has rejected the call to lay down a line that iran could not cross. the closest white house spokesman jay carney would go is to repeat the phrase "the
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president is committed to prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon." jim walsh joins us now this morning. good morning to you. you're one of a handful of americans who have traveled to both iran for nuclear issues. should they set a red line? >> i actually think they have set a red line. it's not where the israeli wants it to be. it's not as precise as he wants it to be, but the red line is there. president obama has said on repeated occasions that an iranian nuclear weapon is unacceptable. and so if they move from where they are now, which is sort of a rough capability, to a bomb decision, saying yes, we're going to take that capability and translate it into an actual working weapon, that's the red line that the president has announced and i would expect he would act at that point. >> iran has been saying all along -- it's been denying that it aims to build a nuclear bomb, saying that the program is for energy and medical use. the white house doesn't really
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believe this, does it? >> well, i think there are suspicions about the nuclear program in iran. first, that there were facilities that were being built in secret before they were revealed. and secondly that the program is actually larger than currently what they need. they don't need to produce a lot of fuel because they only have one reactor and the fuel is being supplied by the russian. any time you have no obvious use for the material producing, that raises suspicions. i want to stress that the intelligence community, the highest ranking intelligence officer in the united states has repeatedly publicly testified that iran had a bomb program, stopped it in 2003, and has not yet made a decision to restart it. so unlike iraq where they stopped the program and no one knew and thought they were still going for it, u.s. officials are confident that they have not made that key destoicision to g from capability to bomb.
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>> do you think u.s. -- do you think we'd ever see u.s. military action in iran? and if so, what would that look like? >> well, the president and the secretary of defense and a variety of american officials have repeated that old tired phrase that they won't take any option off the table. so what do they mean by that? they mean that they have active planning for the use of military force against iran if that were to become necessary. it's not necessary now, but like any good government or military, you plan for your options. so i know for a fact having spoken to high level military officers that they have a variety of plans in place. i think most of them involve the use of drones, missiles, air strikes, not u.s. troops on the ground, t attacks at specific facilities. if it were to come to that. and they're prepared to go there if that's what's needed. but no one is looking to go there if they don't have to. >> any chance that israel would take action without the u.s.? >> yeah, i do think there's a
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chance. there's a big debate in my community about how likely that is. i've been at this work on iran for over ten years, and every year, like the changing of the seasons, like it's fall today, there have been threats of an israeli strike and saying there's only a year left, we have to act, and then nothing happens. this year does feel differently, i must say. i've talked to senior officials in the pentagon, in the white house who -- and in capitol hill who think the israelis will strike, that they might strike before the u.s. election in november, and so there's a real concern that this year is different than other years. i still don't think it's going to happen, but i think the chance have increased over what they were last year. so yes, this is a real issue. it is worth talking about. >> what do you think the real cost is of a possible attack? >> yeah, you know, a lot of people talk about retaliation and this and that. i'm a guy who focuses almost all his effort on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. my own view is that if iran is attacked, you will get this bomb decision that i referred to
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earlier. they haven't yet decided which way they're going to go on this, but i think if you hit them, they'll respond by oh yeah? we'll show you, we're going to build a bomb. i think in some ways, the worst response is that you'll avoid the very thing you're hoping to avoid. you'll get iran hell-bent on building a bomb. of all the possible consequences, that's the one i worry about the most. >> here's the thing, too. if israel goes in or the u.s. goes in or anyone else, given the landscape, is there really any way to know that we hit our targets and put an end to the program? >> well this is exactly the right question to be asking. my colleagues and i put out a report last week, unusual for washington. bipartisan, retired generals and national security advisors from both republican and democratic presidents. and the report didn't have any recommendations. but it said we have to start asking the questions. what is our objective? at what cost are we willing to
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acquire it? what the are the benefits? what's the exit strategy? everyone is talking about military strikes, but we haven't had the conversation first about is this the right way to go? will it achieve our objective? so that's what's missing here. that's what we're trying to get americans to do, republicans and democrats alike, to have this first conversation about objectives, costs, goals, because we really haven't had it yet. >> yeah, it's an important conversation, no doubt. appreciate your insight this morning. thank you. >> thank you. a story that's both heartbreaking and shocking. a developmentally disabled man being harmd by the very people who were supposed to protect him. don't miss endless shrimp. try as much as you like, anyway you like. like new teriyaki grilled shrimp for just $14.99! my name is angela trapp, and i sea food differently.
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i need to warn you. in our next story about bullying, some of the video may disturb you. it allegedly shows two care givers physically abusing a severely autistic man. now those men have been criminally charged. here's our affiliate inan diego. >> from a layperson's standpoint, it's obvious that these acts on jamie were beyond any level of professional care a care giver would give and were therefore criminal acts. >> reporter: these men kept their heads down as they entered not guilty pleas to felony counts of abusing an autistic man. >> the acts captured on video caused jamie unjustifiable pain and mental suffering. >> reporter: both men were captured on a so called nanny
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cam that they up in their child's bedroom. >> purging janie the stopage. punching him in the face. twisting of the arms. applying body pressure, body weight on jamie's body. >> reporter: according to court documents, garrettson is connected to 64 incidents of the alleged abuse caught on camera. investigators say mcduffy was engaged in 66 incidents. >> the defendants in this case preyed on a vulnerable victim, a person who could not speak and defend himself. as such, both of them are a danger to the community. if they can do this to a vulnerable victim, what would stop them from doing it to somebody else in our society? >> reporter: after reviewing hundreds of videos, prosecutors say they were convinced horrible was happening to the victim at the hands of those who were trusted to take care of him. >> we wouldn't file these charges unless we could prove
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the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and from the videotapes that we've seen, we find them to be criminal in nature. what i did see i found to be very disturbing. i was very shocked and angered from an internal stomach gut feeling standpoint and i can only imagine what his parents went through. >> horrible to see that happening to that man. it is important to note that it was the defendant's first court appearance. we have not heard from their attorneys. but this is not the first run-in with the law for care giver michael garrettson. san diego affiliates report he was on trial for second-degree murder for an infant boy that died under his care in the 1980s. a mistrial was declared and he was later acquitted. in 2002, he pleaded guilty to animal neglect charges. now to florida where a mom says her teenage son was being bullied, so she walked into his bus stop and took matters into her own hands. watch this. she actually confronted the bully. they argued and she ended up hitting him. you can see the whole scuffle here on the bus surveillance camera. and here's what she said
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afterward. >> words kept going back and forth. he called out my name and i smushed him in his face. that's what they need. a good old fashioned whooping, and we're not able to do that because we end up in jail. >> she is a 35-year-old woman. the boy she went after is 17. his family says he is not a bully and she now faces charges of child abuse and trespassing on school property. what is a parent to do? that is the question. a mom was breast-feeding in an applebee's restaurant when she says a manager told her to do it in the bathroom or they would call the police. bob...
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welcome back. a mom was nursing her toddler in an applebee's restaurant when she says she was told to breast-feed in bathroom or get out. this happened near atlanta. dawn holland says she was in a booth breast-feeding her 20-month-old son when the manager asked her to do it in the bathroom. she argued that nursing in public is legal. and guess what. they called police. the officer decided not to file a report. applebee's says the whole thing was a misunderstanding and its priority is to provide a comfortable environment for everyone, including nursing moms. ever been to halifax, nova
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scotia? beautiful seacoast town. lots of history and charm. but it turns out halifax has too many cats. enter tuxedo stan, candidate for mayor. yes, he is running for office. and yes, he is a cat. and he's standing with all four paws firmly planted on a very worthy platform, in my opinion. stan is encouraging the good citizens of halifax to adopt a city-sponsored cat care program. and he's walking the walk, even on all fours, by raising money to help low income families spay or neuter their cats. i love that candidate. love him, love him, love him. we have much more ahead in the next hour of "cnn saturday morning." but first, the ancient mayans predicted the world will end this year, and they have the perfect place for you to take in the show. rob marciano takes us to the heart of their empire in this weekend's "on the go." >> reporter: the ruins are one of the wonders of the world, and they can be found on mexico's
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yucatan peninsula. they're only a few hours drive from cancun. >> it's best to go early in the morn sog you can depart from cancun. if you are traveling independently, that will give you more flexibility. >> the most iconic structure is this temple, which was positioned to line up with the movements of the sun. >> one of best times to visit is during the fall and spring equinox because the son hits the pyramid in such a way that it gives the illusion of a moving serpent on the staircase of the pyramids. >> the temple has 365 steps, one for each day of the year, and if you believe the mayan calendar is ending this december, the possible epoapocalypse is creat a tourism boosm.
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>> we're seeing them off to give double your money back if the end of the world actually does occur. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. governor of getting it done. you know how to dance... with a deadline. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. this is awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is, business pro. yes, it is. go national. go like a pro. droid does. and does it launch apps by voice while learning your voice ? launch cab4me. droid does. keep left at the fork. does it do turn-by-turn navigation ? droid does.
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from the cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning." it is saturday, september 22nd,
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the first day of fall. i'm randi kaye. fresh protests erupt across the muslim world, keeping the u.s. on alert, but not all of the demonstrations are anti-america. missing in iran, the wife of a retired fbi agent who vanished years ago is taking her plea for help to an unlikely person. iran's president himself. scientists are on the front lines of an ambitious goal to cure six deadly cancers this decade. we have an exclusive interview with some of the researchers who are taking on that incredible feat. anger and rage over a u.s.-made film are sparking violent protests in countries overseas for yet another day. take a lack here. this is bangladesh. protesters vandalized a bus and set fire to a motorcycle during demonstrations in its capital city. many protesters were arrested. the demonstrations with all over an independently produced film mocking the prophet muhammad. protests are planned in at least four other countries today. thousands gathered in pakistan not to protest, but to bury some
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of the people killed in violent demonstrations yesterday. at least 27 people were killed and more than 100 injured. protesters in libya aim their attack not at america, but at the radical islamic group tied to the u.s. consulate attack. hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators seized the group's headquarters in benghazi overnight, demanding an end to extremist militias in libya. protesters moved on to a second location, but the situation quickly turned dangerous. >> reporter: contrary to what we witnessed, there seems to be something of a gun battle going on. we are hearing sporadic gunfire as well as other small explosions. >> it turns out the protesters were tricked and ended up attacking the headquarters of a battalion backed by the libyan
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government. at least four people were killed, 70 injured in that violence. we're learning more about what happened in the final chaotic moments for two americans who were killed in the u.s. consulate attack. glen dougherty and tyrone woods were in benghazi working security. sources tell cnn dougherty and woods were in another part of the city when they got word that the consulate was under attack. the men went to the consulate, rounded up the staff and recovered the body of the first victim, sean smith. military officials say it was during a second, more intense attack that doherty and woods were killed. the obama campaign says mitt romney is still holding back critical information about his finances. yesterday, the republican presidential candidate released some of his tax documents, including his full 2011 tax return. it shows that he made $13.7 million last year and paid nearly two million in federal income taxes, because romney's
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income came largely from investments, he's taxed at a lower rate, 14.1%. the documents also show the romneys dominated more than $4 million to charity. but they only claimed about half of that as deductions to conform with romney's earlier statement that he's never paid less than 13% in income taxes over the last decade. the obama camp is calling on romney to release even more returns. paul steinhowser joining us now. why isn't the obama campaign satisfied? they wanted more taxes released and they got one. >> they knew that one was coming. the obama campaign and the democrats point to other nominees in recent cycles. they point out to mitt romney's father, put out multiple years.
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the romney campaign did put out a summary statement of myth and ann romney's taxes from 1990 to 2009, a 20-year period. that indicates they paid taxes in all of those years and the average rate they paid was about 20%, the lowest rate being 13.66%. this may be a little bit of pushback against harry reid, a democrat, who earlier this year claimed that he -- a source told him that mitt romney did not pay taxes in some years, so a little bit of pushback there. >> harry reid may have to reveal his sources after all on this one. this tax return, the whole issue has really dogged romney for a while. why to you think they released the tax documents now? it was a late friday afternoon release. >> yeah, the traditional late friday dump here in washington, document dump. were they trying to hide it? maybe it's just the opposite. the storyline all last week was the comments by romney on the hidden camera tape at that fundraiser, the so called 47%. this changes the conversation.
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also, why now? maybe they want to get it out before next week when they're ramping up. the following week are the debates so maybe they wanted to get it out now. the romney campaign says none of that is true they say the tax returns were done, we put them out. >> newt gingrich actually had some advice for romney. what did he say? >> yeah, about these upcoming debates. three debates between the president and mitt romney. here's what gingrich told our piers morgan last night. >> when he walks in to debate obama, he's got to be as tough with obama as he was with me in florida. he's got to stand up. he's got to be very firm and very aggressive. and the country's got to look in and say you know? this is a guy that could be president, he's tough enough, he's clear enough, i get it. he's not in a competition to be likable. he's in a competition to be capable. >> gingrich should know. gingrich won that south carolina primary, came down to florida. there were two debates, including a cnn debate.
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romney did very well in both of those. romney won florida and gingrich started fading. >> and you know he and the president are probably practicing right now as we speak, certainly leading up to these. thank you, appreciate that. in a few hours, president obama heads to the swing state of wisconsin. he'll attend two events in milwaukee. wisconsin is the home state of paul ryan, but that has not actually helped mitt romney there. obama leads in wisconsin. you see the numbers there. by nine percentage points. paul ryan is focusing on another swing state today, and that is florida. he's campaigning in miami and orlando. romney is fundraising today in california. lawmakers worked well into the night wrapping up some final business before the november elections. senators approved a roughly f l0 billion package. its passage was delayed for days over partisan bickering. the senate also passed a
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measure almost unanimously that strengthens america's resolve on iran. the nonbinding resolution enables the u.s. to pursue a policy other than containment, if necessary, to prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. the one dissenting vote came from senator rand paul, who argued the resolution was a de facto regulation of war. a retired fbi agent is missing in iran, but his wife tells cnn she is sure that he is alive and will come home. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. insured b♪ unitedhealthcare insurance company. ♪
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more than five years ago, a retired fbi agent disappeared in iran. the u.s. government is asking teheran for information and offering a $1 million reward for any information on his whereabouts. >> it's my husband. i have to take care of him. i have to get him home. >> reporter: but after disappearing more than five years ago, christine's husband bob is a long way from home where he once cuddled his newborn grandson. >> i'm not in very good health. i am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine. >> reporter: this video showing the much thinner retired fbi
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agent being held hostage was sent two years ago. the state department says it's unclear who's holding him. >> when we received the video, we had high hopes because we e-mailed back a number of types in order to get whoever is holding him to let us know what we need to do to get bob home. unfortunately, that hasn't happened. >> reporter: he disappeared off iran's coast in 2007, where his family says he was investigating cigarette smuggling for a private company. fbi billboards are now up in new york's times square in hopes of visiting delegates to the u.n.'s general assembly will see them. >> what makes you think that he is still alive? >> i just believe it in my heart. i know that from the video that he has lost weight and hopefully all of his health problems are at least at bay and he will be able to get home safely to us. i can never lose hope. >> please help me get home.
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33 years of service to the united states deserves something. >> what gives you hope when you look at that video and see how he looks? >> i know when he looks determined, and he looked very determined to make it home safe and sound. >> her husband has missed walking one of his daughters down the aisle. another daughter's wedding is in february. >> his closet is still full of his clothes and i know it won't fit him anymore. and i haven't even touched his dresser. every morning i'm reminded that the nightmare continues. >> if he is able to see this what do you want the say directly to him? >> we will never, ever, ever stop looking for you. i miss you every day. love you. >> reporter: the u.s. has offered no new information about where levinson is and who's holding him. i spoke to a source with
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knowledge of the investigation who says "there is every reason to believe that levinson is alive and well." police have found the body of a retired firefighter in nebraska. charlie dowd was traveling to visit family by amtrak when he went missing. authorities think that he actually may have fallen off the train. dowd last spoke to his son when he was apparently just outside denver. his family understandably is devastated. >> he was really excited about the trip, and this is just a shocking, shocking, shocking turn of events. >> a statement from amtrak says the case is still being investigated. a suburban atlanta couple charged with unspeakable crimes. it's a bizarre story that you really have to see. and if you're leaving the house right now, just a reminder, you can continue watching cnn from your mobile phone. take us with you. you can also watch cnn live from your laptop. just go to cnn.com/tv.
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a horrifying story of child abuse in georgia. police have arrested the parents of an 18-year-old boy.
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they say that the stepfather had locked up the boy in a room for four years. nick valencia has been following this story. he's 18 years old. he's not really a boy. he's an adult at this point. but how did police find him? >> they found him thanks to a very watchful police officer all the way in los angeles, california. neighbors that spoke to cnn say they knew about the family and knew that they had two children, but they had no idea about the third child, and what he alleges was done to him. >> reporter: it was in this unexpecting looking home in atlanta that 18-year-old mitch comber says he spent four years combined to a blacked out room starved and abused. his stepfather and mother were arrested last week after a teen was found wandering around a bus station in downtown los angeles, more than 2,000 miles away from home. a security guard spotted comber, mistaking the disoriented and emaciated young man for a lost child. >> he weighed 97 pounds. he's 5'3". the lapd officer said that his skin was translucent.
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that he was obviously mall nourished. >> the teen said his stepfather drove him to mississippi, gave him $18 and put him on a train to l.a. with a list of homeless shelters. investigators say the teen has been talkative. >> he's very polite. very timid. but, you know, he let us in. >> reporter: neighbors say they were unaware the teen even lived in the home and investigators say his 13 and 11-year-old sisters had not seen their brother in two years. right now the sisters are in protective custody. a family has volunteered to care for comber until the investigators is completed. the teen's parents have been charged with seven counts of child abuse. they are being held without bail. >> wow. that is something. so he is now with foster
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parents? >> he's been taken in by a family allowing him to stay there until the investigation is completed. when authorities found him, he was completely emaciated. they said his skin was translucent and he weighed 87 pounds, just 5'3". that's why the police officer thought he was a young child. >> as we were saying during your piece that was running, you look at that house, and it's a very nice home. >> we've heard tons of stories over time about similar situations. but this isn't a home like where jaycee lee dugard was found. this is a very well-to-do area. sleepy community, suburban atlanta. you wouldn't expect something like that to happen there. neighbors had no idea he was in the home. >> so sad they had him locked up. nick, appreciate that. thank you. scientists announce a new aggressive plan to fight cancer. they say that in just a few years, dying from lung cancer may be as rare as dying from pneumonia. i mean you feel me right? yeah. uh, sir... ah... [ male announcer ] layaway's back. earlier than ever.
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dying from lung cancer, skin cancer, or breast cancer may soon be as rare as dying from pneumon pneumonia. at is the hope of doctors in houston who say they'll soon be able to radically lower the death rate from several cancers. cnn chief medical correspondent
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dr. sanjay gupta got an exclusive interview with researchers at the world's largest cancer center. >> we're in a position to make dramatic impact on cancer mortality in this decade. >> you're saying if we do everything right, in five years from now, there will be far fewer people dying from cancer, right? >> correct. i think that with the existing knowledge and the application of what we now know, we can begin to see dramatic declines in mortality that would accelerate in years five through ten and be onset control. >> i asked him about the specific cancers m.d. anderson is talking about. >> they are awfully confident. i spent some time with them. let me preface by saying almost got the sense he had the energy of when president kennedy talked about sending a man to the moon, that they're calling this the moon shot project to sort of raise that same passion about
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this particular project that they've taken on. you can take a look at the list there of the various cancers. they're big ones. melanoma, lung cancer, the biggest cancer killer overall. triple negative breast cancer, for example. that's often a very difficult cancer to treat. in many of these cancers on that list, they say within the nengs few years, not a long time in the future, but in the next few years, dramatically cut down mortality by more than half. and then go even further to go after that. >> their intent is to cure, but hasn't that been the mission for decades go? what makes them closer now to a cure than ever before? >> i asked that same question. the man you just heard from, he's the president of "m.d. anderson." more than a thousand clinical trials going on. he'll say look, we've been learning all along, and with the science that we know right now, we can make leaps and bounds toward getting to that cure.
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a quick example. we hear a lot about mapping the genome, but with the science that we know now, you can find specific markers for certain cancer and you can test for those early on in life and be able to prevent a lot of those cancer from ever occurring as a result of those sorts of screenings. lung cancer is one of the biggest cancer killers, again, as i mentioned, but we know how to screen for cancer but we don't know how to screen. it's in those areas, they sound more simple than the wonder drugs that we hear about. but it's in those areas that you could make a dramatic dmifs preventing the cancer in the first place. it's not say the futuristic medications ar't there. but it's really a multiple different things going out at the same time. >> you certainly spent a lot of time in their labs looking at all the research. on what particular cancer do they think that they're going to have the greatest immediate impact? >> i think melanoma we put that one at the top of the list based on everything that we saw and spending a lot
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of time with these doctors. what you're looking at there is a young man who has what was known as stage four melanoma. people who have dealt with cancer understand this. it's when the melanoma has spread throughout the entire body. right now there's not a lot of options for meone like him. he's a minor league baseball player from the midwest. he's a coach now. basically what he's undergoing is the way they're taking his immune cells and teaching them how to fight the cancer. so actually harnessing the power of your body's own immune system and putting it back in the body and saying go find the melanoma and kill it. this is one of the first times in the world that what you're seeing is actually happening. they have great faith in this therapy. >> it's amazing. i lost my mother to lung cancer, so it's incredible to see such progress being made already and such commitment. >> absolutely. i mean, it's a lot of money. the cancer research funds and grants have dried up.
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but three billion dollars over the next ten years to reach this very audacious goal. don't miss "chasing the cure" right here on cnn. the debate over medicare heats up with both presidential campaigns blasting the other's plans. but some older voters aren't happy with what they're hearing and they're not shy about letting one candidate know it. [ female announcer ] born from the naturally sweet monk fruit,
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the future of medicare is a hot topic on the campaign trail, so where did the two
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presidential candidates stand on the issue? cnn's emily schmidt has a look. >> with 46 days until the election, political candidates focused on another number, the over 50 crowd. >> life at 50-plus, i'm not quite there yet, but i'm told that can happen before you know it. >> medicare and social security are not handouts. you've paid into these programs your whole lives. >> medicare and social security are big issues for what aarp says are its more than 37 million members. a cnn orc poll this month asked likely voters who would best handle medicare? 54% said mr. obama. 43% sided with mitt romney. paul ryan told the crowd he believes romney-ryan would strengthen medicare, a campaign promise that received this response. >> the first step to a stronger medicare is to repeal obama care. because it represents the worst of both worlds. [ audience booing ]
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>> the obama campaign has said the plan paul ryan advanced in congress would cost seniors more. president obama said via satellite he didn't mind the word obama care, arguing it strengthened medicare. >> in fact, the health reform law we passed has already saved more than 5.5 million seniors and people with disabilities, nearly $4.5 billion on their prescription drugs. >> another september cnn orc poll asked voters over 50 about president obama's job performance. 46% approved. 50% did not. it's a higher disapproval rating than younger voters reported, and a reminder that winning over older voters may help decide who wins the next four years. in washington, i'm emily schmidt. florida senator marco rubio had a tough time getting back to washington last night. seems his american airlines flight was delayed, so he used the extra time to tweet all about it. he wrote american air says maintenance problem, yet
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suddenly group of new passengers boarding. holding plane to get connecters on from delayed flight? then saying delaying flight for maintenance to squeeze connecters to older flight, oldest trick in the book, feel bad for the crew. someone at the airline apparently saw it and tweeted back afterwards saying this, thanks for your patience, marco. we hope you have a great flight. rubio, by the way, is headed back to washington to vote on a spending measure to fund the government through next march. the measure passed 62-30. it could have been worse for rubio. he could have been on ann romney's plane. that flight was forced to make an emergency landing after an ele electrical issue filled the cabin with smoke. >> we have an electrical issue. we'll probably need assistance. we've got smoke in the cabin. we'll see the severity of it and we'll let you know. we're going to request fire
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trucks, please. >> the charter flight landed safely and no one was injured. at least three militants are dead in a u.s. drone attack of north waziristan. two missiles hit a vehicle being used by local taliban leaders. two other militants were injured in that attack. the surge of u.s. troops in afghanistan is officially over. officials are saying it has been a success, if all goes according to plan, there will be a withdrawal of the u.s.-led international military force by the end of 2014. pentagon correspondent barbara starr has the details. >> as commander in chief, i have determined it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan. >> reporter: the president in 2009 announcing a surge of troops into afghanistan. now those troops are on their way home and the military is saying mission accomplished. >> the surge has effectively covered and enabled the training
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of the afghan national security force and an amazing outcome in and of itself. >> reporter: this is why the administration says it worked. the number of afghan forces has more than doubled to 340,000. the u.s. believes surge troops pushed the taliban out of southern strongholds long enough to let the u.s. train new afghan units and get them into the field. over 80% of operations in the south now are led by afghans. but it's come with a heavy cost. more than 1,100 u.s. troops killed. more than 12,000 wounded in that time. behind all the numbers, deep problems remain. the taliban still has plenty of fight left. one week ago, 15 insurgents breached the u.s. and british base in southern afghanistan, killing two u.s. marines and destroying six aircraft. and many joint u.s. and afghan
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combat patrols, the backbone of the war, have been stopped because of the disturbing number of nato troops that have been killed the year by afghans in military uniforms, many believe to be disgruntled troops. there are fundamental questions about those afghan forces. >> the troops know what their officers really care about, and if the officers are more worried about siphoning fuel off into the black market than they are in planning a patrol that will keep the troops alive, the troops see this and they aren't willing to risk their lives under those circumstances. >> reporter: the cost of america's longest war continues to mount. about $430 billion so far, about $7 billion every month. new evidence is threatening to halt the execution of a pennsylvania death row inmate, scheduled to die less than two weeks from now. details on the complex case straight ahead.
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attorneys in pennsylvania are making a last ditch effort to save a killer's life, but their time is running out. terry williams, now 46 years old, is scheduled toe executed on october 3rd. he was convicted of beating amos norwood to death in 1984, but his attorneys now say williams was sexually abused by the man, something jurors would have liked to have known. >> there was no information at all brought out about any sexual abuse, whether he was a child or
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from the two victims. there was nothing at all brought out about that. now that i know about the sexual abuse and all that, that's why i'm doing this video. because i feel bad that this person is on death row and there was evidence or other things that we should have been told about. >> let's bring in paul cowen. how unusual is this case? you have a convicted killer now trying to avoid the death penalties for killing a man who he says sexually abused him for years. some might say the victim deserved what he got and that terrence williams should not be put to death. what do you think? >> it's a case a lot of people have rallied around, including the former attorney general of pennsylvania, saying that williams has been treated unfairly, that this claim that he was sexually abused should have been revealed to the jury. is it an unusual case? in some respects, it is. death penalty opponents rally
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around certain kinds of cases, cases that have a compelling narrative, a compelling story about the person being executed. and certainly, this sexual abuse angle that the jury didn't know about makes this a very, very unusual and interesting case. >> so on monday, the state failed to reach an agreement for clemency. on thursday, another hearing ended without resolution. what would be next now? >> well, as it travels through the court procedures, a number of things can happen. it can wind up with the pennsylvania governor, who of course could grant clemency. it could -- although the parole board has acted against that, there's a court decision involving that. they could go back out into the federal system again and certainly before the individual ever gets executed with the death penalty, the supreme court takes another look at it, so we can expect this would wind up in front of the supreme court again, even briefly. sometimes they just say all right, we're going to look at it, and they reject the stay.
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so i think we've got a lot of things coming up and you're not going to see an execution in early october probably. >> i want to point out that norwood's own widow has been asked to be called off, the victim's own widow. 360,000 people have signed a petition. they're just not being heard. how much time do you think attorneys have left to get this done? >> well, they are coming into the home stretch on this, so they've got a lot of work to do. i think they're facing tough arguments. we haven't talked about the other side of the case. here's the other side of the case, randy. prosecutors say this is nonsense. he could have raised this claim in 1984 at his trial. williams testified at his trial. not only did he not say that he was sexually abused by the victim, who was beaten to death with a tire iron in a cemetery, but williams said he wasn't even there at the time of the crime. now, of course, the claim is being made not only was he there, but he had previous
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listen by sexually abused. and by the way, there's a claim that he stabbed another man to death and the jury heard about that during the sentencing phase of the case. so people don't get sentenced to death in cases that aren't very, very serious cases here. so there's another side to this case as well, and a judge has got to look at it and say was the jury acting properly and with another information in 1984 when all of the evidence in the case presumably that was available at the time was heard. >> i want to ask you about another case. another bizarre story also having to do with the death penalty from ohio. in this case, you have a convicted murderer, ronald post. he's also been on death row since the 1980s. his attorneys want his execution delayed because they say that he's too obese. they're arguing that lethal injection could be torturous and lingering death for the nearly 500-pound man. have you ever heard of anything like this, paul? >> well, this is right up there.
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yeah, he weighs over 400 pounds. when i first looked at the case, i was thinking it was an electric care case and he couldn't fit in the chair. believe it or not, there have been cases involved whether you can fit in the electric chair. there has been one other case involving an obese convict who tried to avoid the death penalty saying his obesity would render it cruel and unusual punishment. here's the claim. they won't be able to find a vein to inject. this is not an electric chair case. it will be hard to figure out how much of the drugs to give him and it will be a lingering death. there have been claims like this. i don't think this one is going to fly. he might have other reasons to have the death penalty set aside, but the fact that he's overweight, i don't think that's going to get too far with the courts. >> apparently he's tried to lose weight and now they're saying that he shouldn't be put to death because of this. all right, paul, nice to see you. thank you. >> always nice to see you, randi. thank you. >> enjoy your saturday.
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frederick whitfield and the legal guys take up the execution case next-hour. the case of princess doe. now a breakthrough may have authorities closer than ever to cracking it. n doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ that's my world. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze
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it is a murder mystery that has baffled police for decades, the case of princess doe in. 1982 her body was discovered beaten beyond recognition in a cemetery in new jersey. this is a sketch of what they believe she may have looked like. thanks to breakthroughs in
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forensic science, they may be closer than ever to actually cracking this case. lieutenant steven spears joins me now. he's been trying to identify princess doe since 1999. good morning. when we spoke to you several months ago on this case, you had sent off some hair star. s from princess doe's body in finding new information about her. were you successful? >> yes, yes. good morning, randi, thank you for having me back. >> good morning. >> we had the results back from the isotope testing on the segments of hair. now, although it doesn't give us a precise location of origin, it did tell us some pretty amazing things. we know that from ten months to seven months, that she lived in a particular region of the united states which they refer to as region one, which covers a good portion of the northeast and some of the midwest. and then at approximately seven months to find months, what we discovered is that she was definitely transient. she went from one particular region of the united states to another, which is region two.
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and for the last five months, she was in region two of the united states, which puts her in the northeast area. now, we also -- this is something we didn't discuss when i was here before. her tooth -- one of her teeth was sent to another lab for isotope testing and that tapes provide us with some more informative information about her earlier years. and that along with the hair samples, we determined that there's a potential she could have come from the midwest area, meaning, quite honestly, arizona is what we're doing now. >> it's fascinating when you talk about a hair sample. how does it work? you're just testing the dna from that hair sample that's able the pinpoint where she has been and where she might have been from? >> well, it's not dna. it's elements, oxygen and a few other elements that are in the hair which are in the water and the soil in particular geographical areas of the united states. so basically consuming the
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water, consuming food from those areas, deposit these elements in her hair. same thing with the teeth. >> and the same thing with the tooth? >> exactly the same thing with the tooth. the good thing about the tooth is younger years. her more informative years, there's more of those elements present and we're able to say with a reasonable amount of scientific certainty, this is the area she grew up. >> i know one of the big challenges for you when we spoke about this case originally was nobody came forward to say, i'm missing my daughter, i'm missing my sister. since putting this information out there, have you gotten any new leads? anybody calling in, anything like that? >> yes, thank you. as a result of our first airing on july 14th and with the exclusive on the composite, th we've had a number of phone calls a number of tips and leads. going back to the isotope, we know she wasn't foreign born. she was definitely born in the united states. we were concerned about that in the beginning stages. now we've gotten phone calls
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from three separate individuals in the long island area. when they saw the pictures of the composite as well as the picture of the clothing, three separate people told us they bought the exact same dress from a dress store in the long island area. and we have been focusing our efforts in the long island area as well. >> and this happened in new jersey. so that would be not too far away. you're still pretty hopeful, you think you're getting closer? >> absolutely getting closer. and the more we get exposure, again, on this case, the more tips and leads we are getting. we've also got some calls in from some other tips where we potentially have an individual who was missing from the connecticut area, which is not too far off from the long island area. so it just keeps coming in and every tip we get, we keep going forward and trying to follow it as best we can. >> i know you've been working on it a long time. we wish you luck and keep us posted. thank you. >> thank you for having me back. "cnn newsroom" starts at the top of the hour. fredricka joins us now. fred, you're in washington in
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the bureau today. >> i am. that's right. big weekend in washington. lots going on. there's been the congressional black caucus this weekend and other events, big book fair happen l in the middle of the mall. so i decided, why not be in washington this weekend? no, just kidding, not that simple. we have a lot straight ahead this afternoon. how about the idea? should you get the dna fro cheek swabs to be put into a statewide database? it's at the root of a case. and this swabbing takes place before you've been charged with a crime. our legal guys take a swipe at that case straight ahead. and then mobile moments, you know how difficult it was for some of us to get used to the idea of using your atm, statement, it was kind of liberating, too? how that now you don't leave the house without your cell phone. and we're not talking just to not miss a phone call or an e-mail, but instead this would
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be your form of payment. >> that would be so weird. >> do you like the idea? it's already happening in some places around the world. >> yeah, it's pretty strange, though. but, sure, it's convenient. >> i know. it might be convenient. but then, of course, people are going to worry about identity theft. does it make it more accessible to those up to no good? we'll talk about that, kind of a worldwide sweep and whether it would be a mainstay here in the united states. and you remember jewel, the singer. she's had quite the trip around the world in terms of her life. she's now a mother of that cute toddler there. she's married to a rodeo rider. she's still writing music. and now, call her on author. she's got a book, a children's book called "that's what i'd do." we'll talk about the inspiration behind that children's book. clearly her son is an inspiration. but what else kind of provoked her to write this kind of
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rhythmic melody in the form of a book? she'll reveal that and read a couple of passages. >> if she could put that voice in a book, i'll read it. >> you'll be a reader. >> fredricka, thank you. see you at the top of the hour. >> all that straight ahead. thanks so much. apple's mapping software is not a hit with users. we'll tell you why people are complaining about it. of warning lights are a lo and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... ♪ [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler.
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go outside and use your smartphone to take a picture and then upload it to cnn ireport by using one of cnn's mobile apps. the only requirements are that the photo be horizontal and be unfiltered. we'll be showing the best ones later on today and tomorrow. so check back to see if yours was chosen. apple users are not pleased with the company's new mapping software. the new system replacing google maps has misplaced landmarks and roads. jim bouldin finds out why. >> reporter: after all the complaints that apple's new mapping service does not live up to the google maps it replaces, i borrowed an iphone with the new operating system, ios 6 and took it for a walk. our building, in fact, is in the right place. but down here -- the bar that closed here a year ago is till listed.
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well, listed sometimes. sometimes this new place is listed. that's what's confusing. that's part of the problem apparently. apple is melding data from various sources. and some of it is just plain ong. it says here this is the cinema in westfield in stratford city. clearly not here. in fact, the cinema is eight miles east of here. social media is full of examples of streets in wrong places or spelled wrong. landmarks or towns missing. airports in irish farmfields, on and on and on. apple said in a statement that it appreciated all of this feedback it's getting from customers and that it's working hard to improve the map app. well, at least the apple store on regent street is in the right place. so what do enthusiasts lining up to buy an iphone 5 have to say? >> not the least bit concerned. when i want to go to london and

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